Group offers tax-preparation assistance to low-income families

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 9:04 PM

Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux will begin offering tax assistance Saturday to those in need.Residents who meet income guidelines can get free help filing their tax returns through VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

Sable LeFrereStaff Writer

Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux will begin offering tax assistance Saturday to those in need.Residents who meet income guidelines can get free help filing their tax returns through VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. VITA is an Internal Revenue Service program that partners with different organizations like Catholic Charities to offer free help to those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.The organization has been providing the service for 10 years, said Jennifer Gaudet, associate director of individual and family assistance for Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux.“We saw a need for it and thought it would be very valuable. It allows us to help residents save the $200 or $300 they would otherwise have to spend,” Gaudet said.Catholic Charities will be set up from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays on the second floor of the Terrebonne Parish Main Library, 151 Library Drive, Houma, through April 9. Taxes are due April 15.No appointments are necessary. The organization will work on a first-come, first-serve basis and will be closed the day of Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12, Gaudet said.The VITA program uses trained volunteers who must pass an IRS-certification test to file simple income-tax returns. Barbra Ledet, 75, of Houma, a longtime local volunteer who works with Catholic Charities, said the tax preparers are educated each year on changes. “Every year we have to take a test to get up on the new laws and to make sure nothing has changed. If you are not certified then you cannot do it,” Ledet said. “There are three different tests we are offered to take — basic, intermediate and advanced. I took and passed the basic and intermediate levels, so that is what I will be certified in.”Ledet is one of about 10 volunteers who will help Catholic Charities this year. To qualify for the free help, a person or family must have made $51,000 or less last year, Gaudet said.The program does not file tax returns for those who are self-employed, make $100 or more in royalties or are married and filing separately.Residents can receive their money in as little as seven days if they have direct deposit, Gaudet said.For those who don’t have a direct deposit account, Gaudet said there is the option to sign up for a debit card this year. Community Financial Resources, a nationwide organization, partnered with USA Bank to offer this debit card.“All they have to do is fill out the form, and within minutes we have an account number and routing number for them,” Gaudet said.

Staff Writer Sable LeFrere can be reached at 985-857-2204 or at sable.lefrere@houmatoday.com.

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